Mrs. A.G. Pettit marked her 90th birthday at the home of her granddaughter, Mrs. Willis MacLachlan, 50 Oakwood Avenue, Toronto, on March 21. Mrs. Pettit was a former Grimsby resident having lived here the greater part of her life, and a number of Grimsby people, relatives and friends went to Toronto this week to attend a party in her honour.

Mrs. Pettit was formerly Julia E. Nixon, oldest daughter of Dennis and Mary Pettit Nixon and was born in the old Nixon homestead just west of Nixon Hall on March 21, 1846. Her mother was a daughter of Jonathan Pettit who in turn was a son of Andrew Pettit, founder of St. Andrew's Anglican Church. Her father was a descendant of the pioneer Nixons, who in company with the Pettits left New Jersey with other U.E. Loyalists and came to Upper Canada around 1787, the Nixons settling on Lot 13 Concession 1 and the Pettits on Lot 14 Concession 1 about one mile west of "The Forty" as Grimsby was then called. Crown deeds are still held by descendants of these families. On March 13th 1866, Julia Nixon married Adolphus Gustavus Pettit, who was a son of Joseph and Ruth Carpenter Pettit. Joseph was a son of John Pettit, who was a member of another Pettit family, who came to Canada about the same time and settled in Saltfleet at Winona. Although Mrs. A.G. Pettit has recently been attempting to establish an earlier connection between the two Pettit families, she has as yet been unable to do so and she is the only known link between the two Pettit families in this district. It is notable that Mrs. Pettit celebrates her birthday and wedding anniversary in this month.

Records of an annual Lincoln County Fair in 1859 show that Dennis Nixon's (Mrs. Pettit's father) contributions alone were a little showing in themselves consisting of cabbages, 27 lbs. each, 204 lbs. large potatoes from the yield of one, with fruit, tobacco and roots of all kinds, which classed him as being amongst the most enterprising farmers in the county.

After her marriage to A.G. Pettit, they lived in Grimsby until shortly after his death in 1919. Mrs. Pettit has lived in Grimsby over 70 years and has recently moved to Toronto. She had one daughter. There are four grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Mrs. Pettit has always been well loved for her bright, cheerful disposition, and at the present time she is compiling a genealogy of the Pettit families of this district.

My favourites lets you save items you like, tag them and group them into collections for your own personal use. Viewing "My favourites" will open in a new tab.
Login here or start a My favourites account.